The evidence is stacking up against the confidence of publishers like Rupert Murdoch who expect their readers to start paying for news online.
A survey of 2,000 people by Lightspeed Research (via Mediaweek) found that…
• 91% of respondents "would never pay" for online news.
• Only 5% said they would be interested in buying single news articles.
• Just 4% would consider a longer-term subscription.
Lightspeed also found that…
• 90% of respondents wouldn't pay for analysis.
• 83% ruled out paying for sports highlights.
• 79% said they wouldn't pay for live sports online.
• Consumers apparently are more keen to paying for music downloads: 49% said they would hand over cash for tracks.
Age plays a role here…
• 86% of the 16-24 age range put themselves in the "never" category
• That number rises to 96% for the 45-65 age range.
Does all this mean newspapers have no chance of charging for their online platforms? Unsurprisingly, given how much is riding on paid content strategies succeeding, publishers still argue it can work…
News Corp claims to have research from its Australian division showing people will happily pay.
• Our recent consumer research found that only five percent of readers would pay to read their favourite news site if it introduced a paywall, so it's not looking good for the the paid content cheerleaders…
• Our research similarly found that while 13 percent of 16-24-year-olds would be prepared to pay for news online, only two percent from the 45-55 category would do the same.
Related Stories
